Younger children typically find it difficult to choose which shoe of a pair is for the left foot and which shoe is for the right foot such that oftentimes the shoes are put on the wrong feet. This is due not only to the child's not having yet learned left from right but also because of the similarity in shape of left and right shoes for younger children, the shoes being smaller with less pronounced tailoring of the shoe shape for the proper foot. This inability to correctly identify the proper shoe impedes a child's progress in learning to put on his own shoes, but also furthers the amount of time required for adult supervision of the process which in itself impedes a child's learning as he tends to rely upon his parent to make that decision and complete the process of putting the shoes on as it is just as convenient for the parent to do so having once diverted his attention.
In the prior art, others have dealt with this problem by seeking to utilize portions of an integral design which are readily recognized by a child and at the same time which are incomplete when viewed separately. An example of such an approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,858 which depicts the use of a clown's face, one-half of the clown's face being applied to the left shoe and the other half being applied to the right shoe such that the portions are recognizable as a clown's face only with the left shoe and right shoe aligned in their respective proper positions. While this approach does aid a child in aligning shoes, its benefit stops at that point and, the designs are even chosen so as to be readily recognizable to a small child with no thought process.
Still another skill which a maturing child must develop is that of reading, and associating picture elements with abstract thoughts and ideas. Of course, the reading skill involves associating words in a left to right directional orientation. However, with small children having not yet learned to read, the use of words as design elements would be ineffective as an aid for aligning and properly fitting shoes to the correct feet.
In order to solve these and other problems in the prior art, and to provide an educational benefit to a child much beyond the simple task of simply aligning incomplete portions of a design, the inventors herein have succeeded in devising a device which not only aids a maturing child in aligning shoes, but which also encourages the development of reading and thought association skills which require a mental step to further challenge the child and thus further instruct him. Such a thought association is achieved by utilizing separate design elements which are independently complete and alone incapable of identifying a left shoe from a right shoe but, when the shoes are aligned properly, may be associated one to the other to create a picture story which gives a sense of direction of left to right after the story has been recognized and interpreted by the child. This also challenges a child's memory retention as a parent will typically explain the picture story and its directional element to the child during the first few times that the child is exposed to it. Subsequently, it will be left to the child to align the independent design elements in the proper manner so as to complete the picture story in accordance with the explanation given by the parent.
One such example is shown and described below in the preferred embodiment which includes a design of a dog for the left shoe and a design of a doghouse and bone for the right shoe. The associated picture story which explains the link between these design elements and which also adds the directional indicator to them would be the effect that the dog goes into the doghouse. A simple declarative sentence can be used to explain the story, associate the design elements, and provide a simple vehicle for memorization by the child such that the child can later recall it to facilitate association of the design elements and placement of the shoes in the proper manner to assure their being fitted to the proper foot.
As can be appreciated, this technique provides significant advantages over the prior art in that not only is some memorization required, but also logic and a conditioning of the child to associate, at least, design elements in a left to right orientation as a precursor to the learning to read which requires interpreting words in a left to right directional manner.
While the principal advantages and features of the present invention have been briefly described, a more thorough understanding may be obtained by referring to the drawing and detailed description of the preferred embodiment which follow.